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Toski among PGA Hall of Fame inductees

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Legendary instructor Bob Toski heads a class of eight inductees to be enshrined in the PGA Golf Professional Hall of Fame, it was announced Tuesday.

The 2013 class, which includes Toski, Michael Hebron, Jimmie DeVoe, William Powell, Allen Wronowski, Donald “Chip” Essig, Jim Mrva and the late Bill Ogden, will be honored March 12 at the PGA Museum of Golf in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

“It is with a great deal of pride that the PGA of America welcomes a special eight-member class into the PGA Golf Professional Hall of Fame, who by their life’s work have made significant and lasting contributions to our Association and the game of golf,” said PGA of America president Ted Bishop in a statement. “This class features those who battled social injustice, renowned instructors and leaders who exhibited a passion for serving others beyond their job description. Their names will be forever inscribed among those who have made golf the greatest game.”

Toski, now 86, won 11 events on the PGA and Champions tours, and his students have included Tom Kite, Bruce Crampton, Judy Rankin and Ken Duke.

Hebron was the catalyst for the largest educational forum in the golf industry, the PGA Teaching & Coaching Summit, and went on to promote to his peers how to understand learning the game.

DeVoe, who passed away in 1979, was the first African-American to be elected to membership following the rescinding of the “Caucasian clause” in 1962.

Powell, the 2009 PGA Distinguished Service Award recipient before his death later that year, remains the only African-American to build, own and operate a golf course in the U.S.